Portable motor driven plane



p 20, 1955 w. J. DIMMER 2,718,248

PORTABLE MOTOR DRIVEN PLANE Filed Aug. 11, 1952 V '5 l2 INVENTOR.

7 WILLIAM J.DIMMER ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,718,248 PORTABLE MOTOR DRIVEN PLANE William J. Dimmer, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Whitehead Stamping Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application August 11, 1952, Serial No. 303,740

4 Claims. (Cl. 145-4) This invention relates to power operated planes of the portable type.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a portable plane having a rotary cutter and having a drive shaft for the cutter adapted for engagement with the clutch of a portable hand tool of the type equipped with an electrically operated motor for driving the clutch.

It is another object of this invention to provide a portable plane of the above type wherein the rotary cutter is supported on a work engaging shoe and wherein said shoe is movable relative to the work by the handle of the portable hand tool.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a portable plane with a shoe of inverted channel-shaped cross section adapted to receive a workpiece and having flanges cooperating with the workpiece to guide movement of the plane during the planing operation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a portable power driven plane possessing the foregoing features and at the same time composed of a relatively few simple parts capable of being inexpensively manufactured and assembled.

The foregoing as well as other objects will be made more apparent as this description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of a portable power driven plane embodying the features of this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the plane shown in Figure 1 having certain parts broken away for the sake of clearness and also illustrating a portable power driven hand tool in conjunction with the plane;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Figure 3.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, it will be noted that the numeral indicates a portable power driven plane comprising a shoe 11 and a rotatable cutter 12. The shoe 11 is in the form of an elongated member which is channel-shaped in cross section and is arranged with the channel opening downwardly. of the base 13 of the channel is supported on the top surface of a workpiece 14 (Fig. 4) and one or both of the depending flanges 15 of the channel respectively engage the adjacent side or sides of the workpiece to guide movement of the shoe along the workpiece.

Extending across the shoe 11 adjacent the front end thereof is an inverted substantially U-shaped bracket 16 having a width somewhat greater than the width of the shoe 11 and having the leg portions 17 respectively positioned at opposite sides of the flanges 15 on the shoe 11. As shown in Figure 3 of the drawing the leg portion 17 at one side of the bracket is secured directly to the adjacent flange 15 of the shoe by a fastener 18 and a spacer 19 is positioned between the other leg portion 17 of the bracket and the adjacent flange 15 of the shoe. The spacer 19 is secured to the shoe 11 by fastener elements 20 and the adjacent leg portion 17 of the bracket 16 is In use, the underside 2,718,248 Patented Sept. 20, 1955 secured to the spacer by fastener elements 21 shown in Figure 1 of the drawing.

The bracket 16 provides a support for a shaft 22 which extends transversely of the shoe 11 above the base portion 13 and has the opposite ends respectively journaled in the leg portions 17 of the bracket 16. The shaft 22 forms a support for the cutter 12 and in the present instance the cutter is pinned or otherwise secured to the shaft 22 between the leg portions 17 of the bracket 16. The cutter 12 is elongated axially of the shaft 22 and is fashioned with a plurality of cutting teeth 23 which extend helically with respect to the axis of the cutter. The portion of the shoe 11 registering with the cutter 12 is fashioned with a clearance slot 24 and the diameter of the cutter is such as to project downwardly through this slot. The arrangement is such that rotation of the cutter 12 in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 4 of the drawing causes the teeth 23 to remove stock from the top surface of the workpiece 14 as the shoe 11 is advanced along the workpiece.

The cutter 12 is rotated by a drive shaft 25 supported on the bracket 16 with the axis thereof extending perpendicular to the axis of the cutter shaft 22. As shown in Figure 2 of the drawing the drive shaft 35 is journaled in a bearing block 26 which is secured to an ear 27 formed on the bracket 16. In the present instance, the car 27 extends along the rear side of the bracket 16 and the bracket is augularly positioned so that the drive shaft 25 is inclined in an upward direction with respect to the shoe 11. A thrust collar 28 is provided on the shaft 25 at the rear side of the block 26 and a beveled pinion 29 is secured to the drive shaft 25 at the front side of the car 27 on the bracket 16. The construction is such that the pinion 29 coacts with the thrust collar in preventing axial movement of the shaft 25 relative to the bracket 16. The bevelled pinion 29 meshes with a bevelled gear 30 which is secured on the shaft 22 adjacent the cutter 12 and transmits rotation of the drive shaft 25 to the cutter 12. The reference character 31 in Figure 3 of the drawing indicates a spacer which is secured to the shaft 22 between the bevelled gear 30 and the adjacent leg portion 17 of the bracket 16. This spacer coacts with the cutter 12 in restricting axial movement of the shaft 22 relative to the bracket 16.

The plane described above is adapted to be driven by any one of various types of portable hand tools available to the trade. An example of such a tool is indicated in Figure 2 of the drawing by the numeral 32. Briefly, the tool 32 comprises a housing 33 for an electrically operated motor 34, and a chuck 35 is suitably secured to the drive shaft 36 of the motor. In accordance with conventional practice the housing is equipped with a hand engaging portion or handle 37 and a trigger 38 is provided adjacent the handle 37 for controlling the operation of the electric motor 34.

The chuck 35 is of a nature to removably grip the rear end of the drive shaft 25 on the plane and to transmit power from the motor shaft 36 to the drive shaft 25. Rotation of the drive shaft 25 by the motor shaft 36 imparts a rotative movement to the cutter 12 in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 4 and stock is removed from the top surface of the workpiece 14 by the teeth 23 on the cutter as the shoe 11 is advanced along the workpiece. The handle 37 of the power tool 32 is used for the purpose of sliding the plane 10 along the workpiece 14 during the cutting operation rendering it unnecessary to provide a separate handle on the plane 10. The stock removed by the cutter 12 is deflected laterally outwardly with respect to the plane 10 by a tongue 39 which is formed integral with the base 13 of the channel and extends from the rear edge of the clearance opening 24 over the cutter 12.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A portable power driven plane comprising an elongated shoe of inverted channel-shaped cross section for slidably receiving a work piece and for guiding the movement of said shoe along the work piece, the base of said channel-shaped shoe having an opening therein, a bracket mounted upon said shoe adjacent said opening, a rotatable cutter carried by said bracket and projecting through the opening aforesaid for engagement with a work piece within said shoe, and a drive shaft carried by said bracket and operatively connected to said cutter.

2. A portable power driven plane comprising an elongated shoe of inverted channel-shaped cross section for slidably receiving a workpiece and for guiding the movement of said shoe along the workpiece, the base of said channel-shaped shoe having an opening therein intermedi ate the ends of said shoe, a bracket mounted upon said shoe adjacent said opening, a rotatable cutter carried by said bracket with its axis extending transversely of said shoe, said cutter projecting through said opening for engagement with a workpiece Within said shoe, a drive shaft supported by said bracket for rotation about an axis extending toward the rear end of said shoe, the rear end portion of said drive shaft being accessible for engagement by a power operated member, and a driving connection between said drive shaft and cutter.

3. A portable power driven plane comprising an elongated shoe of inverted channel-shaped cross section for slidably receiving a workpiece and for guiding the movement of said shoe along the workpiece, the base of said channel-shaped shoe having an opening therein intermediate the ends of said shoe, an inverted substantially U-shaped bracket having a base portion spaced directly above said opening and having leg portions respectively secured to opposite sides of said shoe, a shaft having the end portions respcet'wekg "mum-awed on the \eg portions of said bracket, said shaft registering with said opening and having its axis extending at right angles to said shoe, a rotary cutter secured to said shaft and projecting through said opening for engagement with a workpiece within said shoe, a drive shaft journalled on said bracket at the rear side .of the latter with its axis extending perpendicular to the axis of the first-mentioned shaft in a direction toward the rear end of said shoe, the rear end portion of said drive shaft being accessible for engagement by a power operated tool, and intermeshing gears respectively secured to said shafts for rotating said cutter.

4. A portable power driven plane as defined in claim 3 including a tongue projecting from one edge of the opening in the base of said shoe and extending over the top of said cutter in a position to deflect material removed from a workpiece by said cutter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,357,985 Impalea Nov. 9, 1920 1,530,028 Billingsley Mar. 17, 1925 1,706,157 Hannah Mar. 19, 1929 2,307,464 Metting Jan. 5, 1943 2,349,112 Romanoski May 16, 1944 2,544,098 Libby et al. Mar. 6, 1951 2,544,461 Leitzel Mar. 6, 1951 2,609,849 Kronquist Sept. 5, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 530,334 France Dec. 20, 1921 

